Archive for September 29, 2012

A few days ago I went to the Hollywood 16 movie theater in Ocala Florida, to see Lawless and the most extraordinary thing happened! After the movie was over I had to go to the bathroom so I headed to the bathroom and as I was heading towards the stall, a young kid about seven or eight was coming out and about to pass me. He could have kept on walking but to my surprise the young gentleman walked back and held the stall door open as I entered and then he closed it so I could lock it.

The extraordinary thing was not just that he took the time to step back and perform this awesome gesture, but what was happening at the same time. His family was impatiently waiting outside the bathroom for him, shouting at him to hurry up. WOW, what an amazing thing the kid did and if I ran into him again, I would thank him. The thing is , I never expected help or asked for it.

Now a days, most people are so caught up in themselves that they can not take time out of their own schedule o do something for others, may it be as simple as stepping back to hold the stall door for someone or as more in depth as giving money to help a complete stranger.

Time for us all to change for the better and keep squeaking our wheels until it happens!

Earlier this September I went to my very first bloggers conference with my dad and brother.

I have been blogging part-time here and there so you can probably imagine that I was nervous and shaking in my boots, to find out more.

The conference was held at the Orlando Science Center with over 1000 attendees. Beginning with the keynote speaker, Lou Mongello, who is a blogger about Disney this and Disney that. He talked about how he began blogging about his passion which was Disney. He then went on to explain that you can quit your job if you want and go blogging full time. Now you are probably saying, “What about money, how am I going to pay my bills just blogging?” Lou explained how bloggers monetize their blogs in many ways, sponsors, donations, sell ads, etc.

After the Keynote speaker, we all headed out to different sessions that were held throughout the day. The sessions I went to in the morning, were Basics of monetizing a blog, navigating facebook promotions and using SEO to improve your blog being found in Google, etc.

Everyone then headed off downstairs about 1 pm, to lunch, provided by Bahama Breeze, and my dad, brother and I were led to an elevator that brought us downstairs where lunch was being served. That elevator was the biggest elevator I ever seen, of course it was a freight elevator.

We had to wait until 2:30 pm for the next session, since we did not want to participate in the yoga session, even though it might have been good for me. We spent the time after lunch talking to other bloggers about what they blog about, what things do they do that keep their fans coming back, etc.

2:30 pm came and my dad and I headed upstairs to the session on Blogging for a Cause. Laura, who was the speaker, spoke about how she has spina bifida and blogs about it. She says to blog about your passion. Laura told us how she was in New York for a convention and the hotel was not accessible to people with disabilities, so she wrote a letter to the hotel and also blogged about it. The hotel manager contacted her and explained that they were sorry and that because of her actions, they already started making the hotel more accessible for all. To learn more about Laura, check out her blog at http://www.holdinoutforahero.org/

We attended a few more sessions and then headed back home. After attending this great conference, I decided to try blogging full-time.

I would be happy to share a story you have, life issues, overcoming obstacles, disabilities and also if you want me to speak about a specific topic on this blog. Please comment below and make it a great day.

What We Are About

The Squeaky Wheelchair is about the disabled. About living with a disability. About parenting a child with a disability. About civil rights and advocacy for those with disabilities. About issues and events that affect the disabled.

Thomas Moon is a business person and advocate living in Ocala Florida. He is also a young man in a wheelchair.

Thomas was the recipient of the Idelio Valdes Leadership and Advocacy Award in 2011. He was appointed to the Florida Developmental Disability Council in early 2013 by Governor Scott.

Howard Moon is Thomas's dad. He is an advocate. Former Florida Governor's Bush and Christ appointed him to the Florida Human Rights Council where he served for a number of years as Chairperson for the Central Florida area.

Both Thomas and Howard are active as advocates both at the local level in Ocala and Central Florida; and at the State level in Tallahassee.